Sewing needle organizer and usage tracker

ABSTRACT

A sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book may include a cover and multiple pages, each of the multiple pages having a pocket and made of a material (such as fabric) adapted for receipt and storage of a sewing needle. Cards may be provided for insertion into the multiple pockets (or the pockets themselves may act as cards) with which to track time periods of usage of each respective needle, which time periods may accrue cumulatively to a total useful life of the needle. A user may track the needle usage over time on a card, and discard the needle upon reaching the end of its useful life.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure generally pertains to organizing systems, and more particularly to a sewing needle organizer and tracker.

2. Related Art

The sewing industry is familiar with pin cushions and the like for storing sewing needles. It is difficult, however, to find a particular needle in a pin cushion when one is desired and a lot of time can be wasted looking When dealing with machine sewing needles, care should also be taken that the needle is in good condition and has not been used for too many cycles (or stitches). Accordingly, even when a machine sewing needle is located in a pin cushion or the like, often one does not know whether the needle is spent and should be discarded, and a new needle put into use for the next sewing job. The first indication may come when the needle stops to work properly, e.g., the stitching becomes rough or the thread breaks, for example, but by that time the bad stitching has to be removed and a transition to a new needle can be time consuming. Furthermore, some are so disorganized in terms of tracking sewing needle usage that sewing needles are quickly discarded before being fully used, not wanting to chance using an old needle, costing users a lot of money in continuing to replace sewing needles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The system may be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments are described with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. In the drawings, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a pair of pages of the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of another pair of pages of the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an example method of assembling the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an example method of using the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is another example method of using the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

By way of introduction, this disclosure generally pertains to a book for organizing and tracking sewing needle usage over time, particularly with regards to machine sewing needles that wear out and should be discarded after a certain number of cycles or minutes of use. The book may include a cover and multiple pages. Each of the multiple pages may include a pocket and be made of a material such as fabric adapted for receipt and storage of a sewing needle. The book may further include multiple cards for insertion into the multiple pockets with which to track time periods of usage of the sewing needles stored on respective pages.

The time periods may build with cumulative use over time and indicate, with proper tracking, a total usage time of the sewing needle stored on the page. A user may eliminate time periods at the end of the card so that only those time periods are available that total to the entire useful life of the needle. Once the end of the tracking time periods is reached, e.g., by checking them off consecutively after use, a user should then discard the sewing needle being tracked and replace the sewing needle with a new sewing needle. Concurrently, the user may then insert a new tracking card into the pocket of the page on which the new sewing needle is stored.

Needle choice is an integral part of all types of sewing and embroidering. By pairing the correct needle with a specific thread or fabric, stitching will run smoother and look crisper and cleaner. Furthermore, the smart choice of a needle helps to eliminate thread breaks and thus disruptions to sewing progress.

Needle choice can easily be overwhelming. There are many different types and sizes of needles, including specialty needles, and they all work differently with specific threads and fabrics. It may, therefore, be helpful to take into consideration the different parts of a needle, and how each part works, in deciding which needle to use for a specific project. For example, a larger needle leaves a larger hole in the fabric, and a larger eye may be needed for thicker thread.

Accordingly, machine sewing needles may include, but not be limited to: a sharp needle; a universal needle; a ball point needle; an embroidery needle; a leather needle; a thick thread needle and a metallic needle.

Sharp Needle

Sharp needles have a sharp point that penetrates most fabrics. Sharp needles work well with woven and knit fabrics, and work well penetrating heavier fabrics like denim and canvas. Many prefer this needle, when practical, because the small point leaves a very small perforation in the fabric, and that makes sewing and embroidery look crisp, clean and well-defined. Different sized sharp needles are made for different sizes of thread.

Universal Needle

Similar to sharp needles, universal needles are sharp enough to penetrate most fabrics, and work well with knit and woven fabric. The tips are slightly rounded and tapered so that the needle slips through the weave of the fabric like a ball point needle, rather than cutting through the fibers as a sharp needle does.

Ball Point Needle

Ball point needles have a rounded point, which is designed to slip in between the weave of the fabric, rather than penetrate through it. Ball point needles are designed to be used with knits like T-shirts and sweatshirts. A sharp or universal needle could possibly cause a slight tear or run in the fabric because of the sharp point cutting through the fibers.

Embroidery Needle

Embroidery needles are designed specifically for machine embroidery use, and for use with rayon and polyester embroidery threads. Embroidery needles work well with all fabrics. The eye of these needles is larger and longer than universal needles. And embroidery needles have a special, deep scarf on the front, plus a rounded point, which protects the thread from shredding and breaking

Leather Needle

The leather needle is designed to be used with leather and suede. The leather needle has a wedged point that allows the needle to better penetrate the thickness of suede and leather and leave a smaller perforation. Unlike fabric, leather doesn't have a weave, so the leather needle makes it possible to sew leather layers together.

Thick Thread Needle

Needles for thick thread have extra-large eyes to accommodate the thread size. When working with a thick thread, like a 12 weight wool, consider using a size 110/18 universal needle.

Metallic Needle

Metallic needles are designed to be used specifically with metallic thread. These needles have a larger eye, which allows the thread to pass through with ease.

FIG. 1 is an example sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book 100. The book 100 may have a front cover 104, a back cover 108 and multiple pages 106. The pages 106 may be generally made of a material such as fabric adapted to receive needles for storage. The book may further include fabric edges 110 that functions as a seam binding to reduce fraying, and so that the book lasts longer over a period of time of being handled in use as a sewing needle organizing and usage tracker tool. In one embodiment, the fabric edges 110 may be applied to just the covers 104 and 108; in another embodiment, the fabric edges 110 may be applied to the pages 106 as well as the covers 104 and 108. The fabric edges 110 may be made of a second fabric or another type of edge finish that reduces the chance of fraying.

FIG. 2 shows a pair of pages of the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book 100 of FIG. 1. Each page 106 of the book 100 may include a pocket 120, a card 125 and a needle 10. The needle 10 may be any needle such as those discussed above, and the type of sewing needle may vary from page to page. The pocket 120 may be attached to the pages 106 along three sides of the pocket 106. The pocket 120 may be made of any sort of material, such as a rigid material and may be made out of a transparent material such as a see-through plastic or other transparent material. Each pocket 120 may be adapted for receipt of a card 125 for tracking the amount of time the needle stored on the page has been used.

The card 125 may be made of paper, card stock, plastic or other material capable of being written upon. The card 125 may, therefore in one embodiment, be made of a laminated material over which a non-permanent ink pin may be used so that the card 125 can be used many times without need of replacement.

In one embodiment (FIG. 3), the pockets 120 may be made out of such laminated (or other writable plastic) material that the cards 125 are not needed. Or, such laminated cards 125 may be sewn directly to the pages 106 of the book 100. Usage of the sewing needles 10 may therefore be tracked directly on the pocket (or card) itself with erasable ink.

Each card 150 may include a place to record the needle type and an area for tracking time periods of needle usage. In one embodiment, the time periods may accrue cumulatively such that the total amount of approximate time so far used in sewing is reflected on the card at any given moment. In FIG. 2, for example, usage time of the first card is tracked every 20 minutes such that if a needle were used in sewing for an hour in a first day of use, the time periods for 20 minutes, 40 minutes and 60 minutes would be checked. Further, usage time of the second card is tracked every 15 minutes such that, for the 60 minutes of usage of the needle on the second page, the time periods for 15, 30, 45 and 60 would be checked.

In yet another embodiment, such as shown in the second card in FIG. 3, time periods may be tracked by half hour (or 30 minute) increments. While perhaps not ideal if time is rounded often to approximate how many half hours are sewn, this card 125 may be useful for a needle that one expects to be used for long periods at a time and may be more conveniently tracked in half hour increments. Any other combination of time period is envisioned, and different intervals of time can even be mixed up on the same card.

The book 100 may further include an elastic band 140 for receipt of a writing implement 150 such as a pencil or pen, which can be used to write on the cards 125 as the needles on corresponding pages are used. The elastic band may be located on some inner part of the book, including the middle pages of the book in one embodiment. The elastic bands, for example, may be sewn into the binding or between pages of the book 100.

The book 100 may also come with instructions for use, which may include charts for suggested useful life span for different types of needles and for sewing different types of fabrics with such needles. That is, if someone expects to sew mostly dense fabrics with a needle, the needle can be expected to wear out more quickly, and the table can account for this by adjusting expected life span. If the useful life span of a needle according to these charts is less than the total cumulative time periods included on a card, the time periods that go beyond the useful life may be deleted (e.g., crossed out) by a user (as seen in the second card in FIG. 3). In some embodiments, cards 125 with varying useful life of cumulative usage time periods may be sold with the book 100 so that several of the cards 125 may be used without needing to cross off the extra time periods.

Once a card 125 is adapted for the useful life of the needle that is going to be tracked on any given page 106, the card 125 may be inserted into a corresponding pocket or just used where directly attached to the page. Once the cumulative time periods have been filled up (e.g., by check marks or the like as the needle is used), the needle has reached approximately the end of its useful life and can be discarded, to avoid the needle becoming spent during a sewing project.

FIG. 4 is an example method of assembling the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book 100 of FIG. 1. A book may be formed from multiple fabric pages for receipt of a machine sewing needle on each of at least some of the fabric pages (410). A pocket may be attached to each of these fabric pages when a pocket is used (420). A card may be inserted into each pocket for tracking time periods of usage of respective machine sewing needles depending on type of needle, and potentially, type of fabric to be sewn (430). As discussed, the card may also be directly attached to the page without needing to use the pockets for insertion of the cards.

FIG. 5 is an example method of using the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book 100 of FIG. 1. A first sewing needle (e.g., a machine sewing needle) may be removed from a first fabric page and used to sew (510). A first card stored on the first fabric page may be removed at some point during or after sewing with the first sewing needle (520). The time periods on the card approximating the time spent sewing with the first sewing needle may be checked off (530). The first sewing needle may be re-inserted into the first fabric page (540). The first card may also be re-inserted into the pocket of the first fabric page (550).

In some embodiments, the card is not used on any given page to track usage, but merely to indicate the type of needle stored there, e.g., with use of hand sewing needles. Furthermore, in embodiments where a card is attached to each page without use of pockets, the method may proceed by tracking usage time on the card directly, without withdrawing the card from and reinserting the card into the pockets.

FIG. 6 is another example method of using the sewing needle organizer and usage tracker book 100 of FIG. 1. A user may write on the card the type of a first sewing needle (which may be a machine sewing needle) being stored on a first fabric page (610). The user may then determine a total useful life of the first sewing needle based on its type and, optionally, on a type of fabric to be sewn (620). The user may then delete time periods from an end of a cumulative total time of usage on the card until arriving at the useful life of the first sewing needle (630). The user may then use the card as described in FIG. 5, and discard the sewing needle stored on the first fabric page upon filling in the time periods of its total useful life (640).

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matter includes combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present embodiments are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description. While various embodiments have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the above detailed description. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. 

1. An apparatus comprising: a book having a cover and made of multiple fabric pages, each of at least some of the pages including a pocket and adapted for storage of a sewing needle; and a card for insertion into the pocket on which is recorded a type of the sewing needle and on which is tracked time of usage of that type of needle.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an elastic band attached to an intersection of two of the multiple fabric pages for receipt of a writing implement.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, where the elastic band is located in the center of the book.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, where the sewing needle comprises a machine sewing needle, and where the time of usage on a card is tracked according to time intervals that the machine sewing needle on a corresponding page is used, where each interval adds to a total cumulative time of needle usage.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, where the intervals comprise 20 minutes, and a total time for possible usage comprises a multiple of 20 minutes.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, where the intervals comprise 15 minutes, and a total time for possible usage comprises a multiple of 15 minutes.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, where the card is made of a paper product, and where the pocket is transparent such that the tracked time on the card is visible through the pocket.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, where the card is made of plastic such as to be reusable when used with removable ink.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, where the card contains multiple locations for recording cumulative time periods of usage, and where some of the multiple locations are deleted from the end thereof when extending beyond a useful life of the sewing needle of a certain type.
 10. An apparatus comprising: multiple pages of an organizer book, each of the multiple pages composed of a first material adapted for receipt and storage of a sewing needle; and a card attached to each of the multiple pages with which to track time periods of usage of the sewing needle, where each card is composed of a second material adapted to be written upon with erasable ink.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, where the first material comprises a first fabric and where an edge of the first fabric includes a second fabric or edge finish to reduce fraying.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, where the sewing needle comprises a machine sewing needle, and where the cards comprise: a location to record type of sewing needle; and multiple locations for recording cumulative time periods of usage, and where some of the multiple locations are deleted from the end thereof when extending beyond a useful life of the sewing needle of a certain type.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, where the time periods comprise multiples of 15-minute or 30-minute intervals, to track cumulative needle usage over time.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: an elastic band attached to an intersection of two of the multiple pages for receipt of a pencil or pen.
 15. A method comprising: forming a book of multiple fabric pages adapted for receipt of a sewing needle on each of at least some of the multiple fabric pages; attaching a pocket to each of the fabric pages; and inserting a card into respective pockets for tracking time periods of usage of respective machine sewing needles depending on type of needle.
 16. The method of claim 15, where the book includes a cover, further comprising: sewing onto the cover a protective edge.
 17. The method of claim 15, where the time periods comprise multiples of 20-minute or 30-minute intervals, to track cumulative needle usage over time.
 18. The method of claim 15, where the sewing needles comprise machine sewing needles, the method further comprising: removing and sewing with a first machine sewing needle from a first fabric page; removing a first card from the first fabric page; checking off on the first card the time periods of usage of the first machine sewing needle; re-inserting the first machine sewing needle into the first fabric page; and re-inserting the first card back into the pocket of the fabric page.
 19. The method of claim 15, where the sewing needles comprise machine sewing needles, the method further comprising: writing on the card the type of a first machine sewing needle being stored on a first fabric page; determining a total useful life of the first machine sewing needle based on type of needle and type of fabric to be sewn; and deleting time periods from an end of a cumulative total time of usage on the card until arriving at the determined total useful life.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: discarding the machine sewing needle on one of the fabric pages upon filling in the time periods of a useful life of that type of needle on the card. 